


The American Dream

by juniperjamboree



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-27
Updated: 2014-06-27
Packaged: 2018-02-06 11:18:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1856119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juniperjamboree/pseuds/juniperjamboree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the day before Steve Rogers opens his bakery, and with a little help from his friends things might just work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The American Dream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jadesfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadesfire/gifts).



Steve Rogers opened “American Dream” when he was twenty four. Or at least, that was his game plan. The bakery wasn’t officially open yet, that would be what happened tomorrow. Today was prep day. Or hell day as Sam liked to call it.

“Hot hot hot hot hot!” Steve muttered as he moved a tray of cookies to a different space on the counter. Sure, he should have waited a while longer, but he was in a hurry. His hair was a mess, sticking up all over the place, and his apron was covered in flour, bits of eggs, milk, sugar, and all sorts of things. He grabbed a cloth and pulled a tray of muffins out of the oven, setting them in the spot where the cookies had just been. Sam slid a cake in and closed the door. A timer went off. “Sam! What’s that timer for?”

“Dude! Really? If you can’t remember what all the timers you set are for, obviously you need a new system.” Sam turns off the timer and opens the fridge, pulling out the frosting they had made earlier. “Time to frost some cupcakes.”

Steve had already prepped the bags and tips for the frosting, part of his early morning Hell Day First Hour. They were well into hour six, their lunch break already behind them. Hell Day Eve had been spent with him and Sam sitting down and planning out how everything was going to happen. Some other things were done as well, but mostly it had just been about planning and getting a good nights sleep. The entirety of the last month had been spent ramping up local interest in “American Dream”, and the grand opening tomorrow was set to be a big event. Mayor Fury, five different food blogs, the local newspaper, and all of their friends were set to stop by at some point tomorrow, so everything had to be perfect.

They got to work frosting the cupcakes. Steve was a strong believer that food should look as good as it tastes, so they set out to make the most attractive cupcakes possible. The baker had spent a lot of time on pintrest browsing other people’s ideas, he never stole anyone’s method, but he like to be aware of what the newest trends were in baking. He also, not that anyone but Sam was ever aloud to know this, had a folder full of mood boards, one for each type of pastry he was making. Everything had it’s own feel to it, and he endeavored to have each pastry exude its essence. (His favorite mood board was the one he had made for the strawberry turnovers.) Okay, so it was kinda silly, but it was also fun.

After the cupcakes were frosted, the cookies were put on a cooling rack as were the muffins. Steve started mixing together the ingredients for the dough they would be using in the bear claws and some of the other pastries. Sam got to work trying to wrangle in the mess. Even though he was working with Steve on the business side of things, he still liked helping out in the kitchen. The two of them had only know each other for a few years now, but they had become fast friends. After everything they’d been through trying to get this place going, there was no one else Steve could imagine working with.

Pretty soon more timers were going off. The red velvet cake in the other oven had finished baking, it was time to decorate the cookies, and the dough was not finished.

“I’m calling in backup.” Sam decided. He knew Steve felt like a bother, so he would never ask for help. Luckily, Sam did not feel the same way. “Hey Nat, you and Clint busy? Good. Come to the bakery we need another set of hands.” He hung up before getting to work. Steve stayed focused on the dough while he grabbed the cake from the oven and put in two trays of cookies. The cookies they had made were just plain sugar cookies, all the better to decorate. Using a different batch of frosting, he began draw on the cookies the shop’s symbol: a white star in the middle of a red white and blue bull’s-eye. It was all very patriotic, which worked for them. Sure, neither were one hundred percent fond of the government, but they did love their country. By the time half the cookies were decorated, the cavalry had arrived.

“Let’s bake bitches!” Clint called out as he entered the shop. Natasha bopped him on the head and started helping Sam decorate cookies. Steve had wanted some of them to be white with red-white-and blue star sprinkles, so the pair got to work on those. Clint headed over and helped Steve with the pastries. They put together a tray and tossed that in the oven. A new timer was set, and then there was more to do. There was always more to do. Steve removed the muffins from their tray and Clint arranged them on the cooling rack.

Even though most of the time he was a goofball, Clint was a good guy. Steve had met him threw Natasha, and they came as a packaged set. You see, he’d met Nat at the gym. He had been beating up on a punching bag after a hard day, and she’d offered to spar with him. At first he had been wary, he didn’t like to spar. He didn’t trust his body not to inflict pain on others, but the red head seemed okay with the situation. Suffice to say he got his ass kicked. The first round in the ring was over so quickly he didn’t feel like he’d done more than breath out. ‘Want to try again?’ she has asked, and of course he said yes. Over time he did better and better. At the end of the day he had taken her out to dinner, not as a date- just as a friend thing. After that day they always sparred together and got food afterwards. It only took a few weeks of that for them to be hanging out on a regular basis and becoming good friends.

He’d met Clint after a disastrous night of drinking and some very bad decisions, but that’s a story for a different time.

The shop hummed with energy as they filled display cases, ovens, and when a pastry went horribly wrong-their mouths. Malformed cookies were put three to a bag to sell for cheap, but otherwise any item that went wrong was eaten. Of course no one was crazy enough to try and mess something up on purpose, Steve would have been so sad and disappointed. None of them could handle that.

Cakes were Steve’s favorite thing to make. The one had sitting in front of him was no exception. For now it was just two twelve inch rounds of red velvet, but soon he would work his magic. The cream cheese frosting had already been mixed together and died black, for added drama of course. Carefully he frosted the top of the first round before gently setting the second on top. He set about frosting the sides and then the top. Steve made the whole thing smooth before part two of his plan could be executed. Grabbing a different bag of frosting, with a different tip on it, he skillfully formed three flowers on the top of the cake. They all varied in size, but stylistically they were identical. He stepped back and took in the creation: simple, gorgeous, and most importantly delicious.

“Nice.” Clint commented as he walked past with a tray of now cooling pastries. “Tasha know he modeled a cake after her?” He winked and went on his way. The tips of Steve’s ears turned hot and red. Making a cake themed after his friend had not been his intention, but things happened. Plus, Nat hated red velvet, she was more of a German-chocolate kind of gal. Steve had all of his friend’s favorites memorized so that come their birthdays he was always prepared. Baking cakes was a lot easier then trying to shop for presents.

He placed the cake in the glass case/counter and went right back to work. There was little time for breaks and reveling in little victories when there was so much more to be done. Steve did his best to hide his yawn as he started making more filling for the pastries Clint and Sam were shaping. The fruit fillings had all been prepared already, but he had waited a while to make the chocolate and the cream ones. Sure it wasn’t his favorite part of the owning a bakery thing, but it sure beat having to work the financial side of things.

Sam had been a life saver in regards to the business side of “American Dream”. Steve could manage to do his taxes on his own, probably not anymore what with the bakery, for the last six years, but that was as far as his financial knowledge extended. His friend Pepper had also been a huge help when it came to setting up how he would run the business, but officially she had chosen not to be a part of things. Steve would have loved for her to be on his team, but she had enough on her plate already. Tony Stark, her fiancé, was a smart guy, but a complete mess at running a company. Even if he could be annoying sometimes, Steve didn’t like to say too many bad things about him- he was their main backer after all.

The team in the shop worked together for the rest of the day, baking until the sun had set and Sam declared that if nothing else, they needed a break. There was only a bit of frosting that still had to be done, but it could wait for them to return from dinner. Natasha lead the way out of the bakery and down the block to Gamma, a restaurant run by their good friend Bruce. It offered a wide range of food choices, but the curry was always the best thing on the menu. By the time they arrived at the restaurant it was well passed the dinner rush, the only other people there was a young couple sitting in the corner.

After all the hard work they had put into getting everything ready, it was good to relax. They rested and enjoyed each other’s company. Bruce joined them, and he and Steve talked culinary while the others did their best to keep up. It was good, calm, and above all else it was a reminder to Steve that he had friends, family, people who would do anything for him. He had a team ready to back him up at a moments notice. So as the meal wound down, he smiled and closed his eyes, ready for whatever tomorrow would bring.

 


End file.
